Chinese telecom gear maker ZTE said that it is increasing its investments in India to grab opportunity around 5G technology, and it now plans to design and develop future technologies, including 5G, in the market which is among the world’s largest by user base. It has started conducting pre-5G trials with India’s top telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Reliance Jio, and plans to design and develop future technologies.
Fan Xiaobing, senior vice president and president of global marketing and solutions, told an English daily that the opportunity will be much bigger for ZTE in India around 5G technology.
“India is a very important market for us. Telecom industry is all about scale, and India offers scale. Indian telecom market will grow very fast…We are increasing our investments in India to support growth,” he said, adding that the current data growth driven by 4G LTE networks is significant, and the vendor is tapping the opportunity by working with telcos.
The executive said that the company will bring telecom products designed and customise products for the local needs. “We will develop future technology products around 5G technology in India,” he said.
ZTE, which competes with the likes of Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia in India, said that the competition is very intense in the market. However, it expects its India business to grow faster than its other global markets.
“Our focus in now on advanced technologies like 5G in India. We are the only company that is doing Pre5G trials with Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio. We are also providing 5G-ready massive mimo technology to Bharti Airtel,” Peng Aiguang, chief executive officer at ZTE India said.
“Our focus in now on advanced technologies like 5G in India. We are the only company that is doing Pre5G trials with Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio. We are also providing 5G-ready massive mimo technology to Bharti Airtel,” Peng Aiguang, chief executive officer at ZTE India said.
Aiguang said that 5G may come even earlier to India, as Indian telecom operators aim to get first mover advantage.
By Baishakhi Dutta
